Chapter 9 The Accidental Tourist

NCERT Solutions for The Accidental Tourist, Chapter 9 Class 9 English Moments

Question 1 Bill Bryson says, “I am, in short, easily confused.” What examples has he given to justify this?

Answer Bill Bryson has given a lot of examples to justify his statement. These examples were he has a habit of going to the hotel desks two or three times in a day asking for his room number ,  he went to the wrong place while searching for a washroom in a cinema hall. Once, he dropped all the contents of his bag on the floor and injured his finger while opening its zip at the airport. Once, got stuck in a miserable position while tying his shoelaces on a flight when the passenger sitting ahead of him pushed back his seat. Once, he dropped a soft drink on a lady sitting next to him in the aeroplane twice. The worst experience of the narrator was when he put the other end of a pen in his mouth while writing in a notebook on a flight and made his mouth, chin, tongue, teeth and gums navy blue in colour.

Question 2 What happens when the zip on his carry-on bag gives way?

Answer When the zip of his carry-on bag gave way, the side of the bag opened abruptly. Due to this, everything inside the bag like newspaper cuttings, loose papers, tin of pipe tobacco, magazines, passport and money came out and got spread on the floor. He also injured his finger badly while opening the zip.

Question 3 Why is his finger bleeding? What is his wife’s reaction?

Answer His finger was bleeding as he had injured his finger while opening the jammed zip of the bag. His wife looked at him in wonder because he had created a mess all around himself.

Question 4 How does Bill Bryson end up in a “crash position” in the aircraft?

Answer Bill Bryson ended up in a crash position in the aircraft, when he was tying his shoelaces and just at the same time the passenger seated ahead of him pushed back his seat.

Question 5 Why are his teeth and gums navy blue?

Answer Once on a flight, the narrator was writing his thoughts in a notebook. He was sucking the other end of the pen. As the pen got leaked, his teeth and gums became navy blue.

Question 6 Bill Bryson “ached to be suave”. Is he successful in his mission? List his ‘unsuave’ ways.

Answer Bill Bryson wanted to be suaved or civilised but he was not successful in his attempts. His unsauve ways were he would leave the dining table in a mess , the sleeve of his coat would get stuck in the car’s door , he would stain his light coloured trousers by sitting on chewing gum, ice-cream, cough syrup and motor oil.

Question 7 Why do you think Bill Bryson’s wife says to the children, “Take the lids off the food for Daddy”?

Answer Bill Bryson’s wife says to the children, “Take the lids off food for Daddy as she thought that the narrator would spill the food while opening the lids. He would spill the food while opening the lids. She is well aware of his clumsy (ungraceful) ways, so she takes remedy measures to avoid an embarrassing situation.

Question 8 What is the significance of the title?

Answer The title of the story The Accidental Tourist” is significant as the narrator keeps on meeting with accidents while travelling. All the incidents that he narrates prove the appropriateness of the title. So, we can say that the title of the story is correct.